COLLEGE BASKETBALL

COLLEGE BASKETBALL; Gloger Resurfaces at Princeton

By BILL FINLEY

Published: December 2, 2002

In the category of vacillations, Spencer Gloger must lead all Division I basketball players. But his unusual journey between U.C.L.A. and Princeton, two universities with almost nothing in common, is finally and solidly in his past, good news for a Tiger team hoping to unseat Penn atop the Ivy League.

Three seasons after he last played for the Tigers, Gloger, a sharpshooting 6-foot-7 forward, has transferred back to Princeton from U.C.L.A. So what if he wanders a little? The important thing is, he can play.

''Having Spencer back is a huge plus for us,'' Princeton Coach John Thompson said. ''We have a very good player back, which gives us an infusion of talent without sacrificing experience. We have a player who has been here before, knows what we're trying to accomplish and what it takes to win here.''

The tug of war between universities began when Gloger was an all-state player at Santa Margarita High School in California. He signed a nonbinding grant-in-aid with U.C.L.A., only to change his mind and enroll at Princeton. It was a coup for the Tigers, who relied heavily on Gloger during the 1999-2000 season, in which he averaged 12 points and set a team record for points by a freshman with 34 against Alabama-Birmingham.

With Gloger and another star, center Chris Young, Princeton seemed to have two cornerstones for a bright future. Instead, the foundation collapsed. Less than three months before the 2000-1 season, Princeton Coach Bill Carmody departed to take the head coaching job at Northwestern. His top assistant, Joe Scott, had already left for the top position at Air Force. It was about then that Young signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, which disqualified him from playing basketball at Princeton. Gloger figured it was time to leave.

''Coach Carmody left, Coach Scott left and Chris Young left, and they all pretty much left late,'' Gloger said. ''I figured, this isn't the same situation I originally agreed to. Everyone else was leaving and I still had this option at U.C.L.A., so I thought I might as well take a look at it.''

Forced to sit out a year because he had transferred, he spent the 2000-1 season at U.C.L.A. practicing with the team and watching games from the bench. Coach Steve Lavin had made it clear that he expected Gloger to be an important part of his team the next season. What he may not have known was that Gloger, to his own surprise, was pining for what he had left behind.

''U.C.L.A. was a positive experience, but I didn't realize how much I was going to miss Princeton,'' he said. ''This is the best place for me, and I'm convinced of that now. I feel really comfortable here in all aspects.''

So, it was back to Princeton. Having never played at U.C.L.A., Gloger again enrolled at Princeton for the 2001-2 school year, but once again he had to sit out a season. This time, he did not practice with the team and did not even attend games. He said he barely knew the players and rarely exchanged more than small talk with them on campus. The only competitive basketball he played was with an intramural team.

''That was by design,'' Thompson said. ''Considering the success he had here as a freshman and the circumstances surrounding him leaving and then coming back, it could have turned into a three-ring circus. It was best for Spencer and best for the guys on the team that he stay away and focus on academics.''

Showing no signs of rust, Gloger, now in his junior season, is averaging 17 points for Princeton, which is 1-2 after Saturday night's loss to Florida International. The Tigers beat Western Michigan in their opening game, then lost to Oklahoma, which was ranked No. 7.

In a normal season, Princeton would be favored to win the Ivy League title, which it shared last season with Yale and Penn after going 16-12 over all and 11-3 in the Ivy. (Penn won a playoff to determine which team would represent the league in the N.C.A.A. tournament.) But this is far from a normal season. Penn, which beat Penn State in its opener, and Yale return all their starters from last season, while Princeton has lost two. Thompson said he was hoping that the return of Gloger, and a healthy Andre Logan, would make the difference. Logan, a junior forward from Brooklyn, was leading the team in scoring after 11 games last season but missed the remainder of the season after tearing a ligament in his left knee.

''We finished in a tie for the league championship and went to the N.I.T. in the postseason, the seventh straight time we went to the postseason,'' Thompson said. ''There are only 16 teams that can say that. From that regard, last year was not an awful year. But this is Princeton, and every year our goal is to go to the N.C.A.A. tournament. To that end, having Spencer back really helps.''